[lbo-talk] rant on

Michael Dawson MDawson at pdx.edu
Thu Nov 11 11:58:35 PST 2004


The point I am trying to make is that a good Marxist strategy is to go with the current and jump on the running locomotive rather than standing in its way as the New Deal dinosaurs want.

Wojtek

My understanding of Marxism is that historical specificity is one of the three great tenets, the other two being an emphasis on material conditions as causes of human behavior, and unwavering solidarity with the exploited masses.

Meanwhile, what makes the New Deal dinosauric? It was the one moment of truly decent politics in American history, and it sets all kinds of good precedents. If we could form a movement to renew and update and complete it (recall it involved FDR's four freedoms and was aborted by WWII), the country and the world would become far, far better in short order.

The New Deal had flaws and ended up being jettisoned as the pressure on elites dimished and the Cold War took hold, but what's wrong with a New New Deal?

And what century will it be when libertarians conquer a U.S. state or even a county? It won't happen in this one.



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